20 minute read
My Office: Mārtiņš Šulte, Co- founder and Chairman of Mintos
Photo: Kaspars Garda A core component of our office space is the green walls, which were created for us by a Latvian start-up. These green walls feature living plants and give our office some natural humidity. This is also a highly efficient solution because the plants water themselves and can adapt to the summer and winter months. In the summer, we also plant some mint or strawberries and therefore take the vitamins we need from our own plant beds.
Our office has a clean desk policy, which means that paper and other documents are not allowed to be left on desks. In fact, we use as little paper as possible, preferably none at all. Our aim is to live a zero-waste lifestyle. Even now, some 90% of our waste is sorted and, where possible, recycled. We offer our employees workshops to help them integrate environmentally-friendly values into their daily lives. I always take a water bottle wherever I go, because hydration is absolutely essential. Every new employee at Mintos is given their very own water bottle. We use a special water filtering system in the office that instantly shows us how many plastic and glass bottles we have saved in this way.
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Healthy snacks, like nuts, are also available to keep up the energy levels.
For me, the key thing is functionality. Ialso take my laptop and headphones with me, which I use to block out noise. When I’m working, I sometimes listen to music but mostly prefer the sounds of nature.
MĀRTIŅŠ ŠULTE
C O - FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN OF MINTOS
Mintos has 180 employees from 20 different countries and can communicate with customers in 12 languages. We have offices in Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw and Berlin – our office space in Riga is brand new. It has been designed to allow the employees to come and go as they need to based on their productivity – some people prefer working at a desk, and others on the couch or in a café. There are colleagues who work best in the morning and others who are most productive after midnight – we are flexible in that respect. I am also flexible and do not have my own office in the building, as I don’t usually spend even half a day at a desk. I prefer to sit with different teams in the office and be more involved in all the processes going on. We have a flat structure here, which means no distinct hierarchies between the employees. Openness and transparency belong to our basic values, which is also why we have as few doors as possible here. The idea for designing our office in this way didn’t happen by chance – we took our inspiration from our partners’ offices all around the world, and had a close virtual look at 50 to 60 locations in Silicon Valley, in particular, to spot the best practices. As I am also so mobile, I have very few personal belongings here.
MINTOS is a global online marketplace for loans. Since launching in 2015, Mintos has demonstrated exponential growth and has become the world's largest marketplace of its kind.
When I want to rest my eyes from the screen, I still enjoy reading printed magazines or books – mostly to do with business topics, such as The Economist, which I enjoy. We have also installed a library here with printed books and it is one of my favourite places in the whole office. And there is also a relaxation area where staff can snooze for 12 minutes and then return to work feeling fresher.
by LĪVA MELBĀRZDE
Baltic tigers ready for a new jump
The Baltic states, which were called the Baltic tigers in the nineties, have got their second wind and, after surviving the crisis, are ready for a much higher jump - now on a technological level as well, being integrated in the economies of a much wider region than in the 90s.
This is the message of the founder of the UPB concern and the Chairman of its Supervisory Board Uldis Pīlēns in his interview to Baltic Business Quarterly.
How would you define the design? If we are talking about design, the first idea that comes to my mind is an integrated attitude towards objects and the environment. Design has an environmental context, which expands our personality and society. The Bauhaus tradition, with their motto stating that ”shape follows function”, is very strong. I would like to transform it nowadays and say that “shape follows consciousness”. The stronger the integration between a person and the environment, the stronger their interaction and evolutionary processes. Design is a much wider notion than architecture, fashion or any other narrower area. Design involves processes, including management processes. It is not merely the spatial or object environment, it also involves relation models. Since I have obtained a Bauhaus education, I have lived with the awareness of “total design” in my head.
In Germany, Bauhaus is an especially popular topic due to the 100th anniversary of this school. But what is the situation in the Baltic states - can we see the manifestations of Bauhaus here as well? Yes. Functionalism entered the world with the emphasis on Germany or Western Europe almost simultaneously with the development of Constructivism in Russia. These two movements have a very significant influence, despite the fact that we have had the postmodernism era and are now entering a post-postmodernism time. Both these movements have caused multiple technological, as well as social behaviour revolutions - they have made environmental design more accessible to wider social layers. Naturally, there was a backlash against these movements, which manifested as an anti-functional and anti-constructivist approach, including architecture, interiors, design and attitudes towards these movements. The so-called post-postmodernism age, which put everything into doubt, began. I would like to say that functionalism is not dead even today; it has simply entered the next level of higher integration, which unites space, the site and a philosophical approach. The relations of a human with place and space have changed and therefore evolution can proceed.
How does your new project of the Institute of Integral Education fit into this evolution? Of course, a lot of my functionalism school is represented in this project - pure materials and pure technology. There is something from kinetic art, which, in turn comes from the direction of constructivism, for instance, the roof of this lift. There are also items characteristic of Bauhaus - rectangular, triangular and round in shape. A lot of the theme of light is represented there, which is also a direction inspired by Bauhaus - the photographs of Bauhaus frequently demonstrate the play of light and shadow. Integration that is developed from man and the environment. The Institute of Integral Education (I3) is a relatively ascetic building in terms of architecture - concrete, glass, metal and wood. A classical approach has been used for the building of I3; however, it is clearly seen that it is not a building of the 20s or 30s of the previous century. It possesses something of the Gropius’ Total Theatre approach - the building is built in the shape of an egg (in the plan). However, this shape has deep symbolism - an egg, with its shell; what is the symbolic meaning of the frosted glass all around the building. We know that if the shell of an egg is broken from outside, it is the death of a yet unborn life; however, if the shell is broken from within, in this case - with the help of I3 mentors, it is the beginning of a new life - and, in the event of I3, this means an opportunity for the growth of consciousness, transformation. Inside the institute building, the density is higher than on the outside - inside (in the core of the building) there is concrete, meditation rooms are situated downstairs, the library is situated upstairs. Openness is
Uldis Pīlēns, architect, founder of the UPB Holding. UPB group is an industrial group, the basis of its business being the construction of complex buildings, including designing, engineering and manufacturing. UPB group incorporates glass, steel and concrete structure manufacturing plants, a cogeneration module manufacturing, a mechanical engineering plant and a digital solution company. Turnover 2018: 190 Million euro Employees: 1700+ Market structure: 34% Latvian, 66% export Main export markets: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, UK, Germany, Azerbaijan
achieved by means of frameless windows and glass pillars brought from Germany, as well as the kinetic lift roof over the library. These themes are an extension of my education obtained at the Bauhaus school.
Is the entire mission of I3 to transform people and open them up to new experiences? Yes, and a transformed person means a new attitude towards the surrounding environment. Although transformational processes in the environment do not always occur in the positive direction. For instance, the current merger of humanity with modern technology (artificial intelligence, biotechnologies, nanotechnologies). I think that these processes do not solely have positive side effects, unless our mentality evolves along with the technology; these technologies are not the only source of new opportunities, since the technologies, among other effects, transform the human. If we return to the topic of design, I would like to emphasise that this interaction is massive - humans transform design and design transforms the human - and this transformation does not always occur in the positive direction, which leads to revolutionary and reactionary phases; however, the overall direction of this transformation is aimed at the constant evolution of humanity along a spiral-shaped path.
What do contemporary people require from design? How are these new requirements of society reflected today? Earlier, for instance, during the Renaissance period, architecture and visual arts served as the driving forces of society. Literature and music followed them later. Nowadays, we have the age of the electronic environment and the internet, which enables us to live in an imaginary virtual environment. Therefore, the definitive role of architecture is declining. Currently both architecture and design have become syntactic; they provide a connection and are similar to music in this respect. Of course, in this highly individual and anonymous world, music may assume the leading role, surpassing literature, design and architecture. An excellent example of such change can be seen in the opera houses built in the 18th century. They were built in a manner that enables the partial use thereof for the functions that are nowadays served by yellow press. It was a place, where those in upper society could show themselves off and see others, and it was of utmost importance who was sitting in the first box, and who was sitting in the second, and therefore the balconies were facing each other to best serve this show-off and observation function, including the persons occupying the king’s and lords’ boxes. Currently, such level of display is not required, since there are huge numbers of various media that provide this information and the imaginary hierarchies of the society are built by means of a virtual world. Therefore architecture is becoming relatively more down-toearth and more functional. However, the architecture is still participating in the process of transformation of the human mentality - irrespective of whether the change is positive or negative. I do not believe that in the nearest decades the architecture will regain its leading position that it had during the Renaissance, since the informative, as well as communicative environment has changed; however, architecture will continue to play an important role as an extension of human personality. The way we live develops us, while we, in turn, reflect back on the environment and change it even further.
Can you mention particular examples? The more we open up the world to people nowadays, the wider the different impulses they receive. For instance, the aforementioned time of Bauhaus - it was not, for instance, inspired by India, for the simple reason that it was not that easy
to travel to India then. Nowadays, a person can reach any continent within 10 hours and social networks offer an instant direct opportunity to get immersed in and draw on any culture of the world. The image of integrative culture, which is perfectly observed in innovative cuisines, where European meals and tastes are merged with Thai and Japanese tastes, as well as cuisines of many other nations, generate very interesting new tastes, as well as design lines and even symphonies of the taste buds. The same is true for literature and architecture, design and fashion. A high level of technology is currently available worldwide, which was not possible at the same level a short while ago.
Therefore, this is a very interesting time. It is a new, integrated functionality with a completely different depth and width of context, which includes the entire world, considerably exceeding the borders of one cultural tradition or religion. The development of this mix of global influences is occurring very fast. In Europe, for example, we see Indian influences in many areas of life, while the influence of European culture is observed in India. French, Italian or German influences are even observed in Japan, which is a very conservative country, and Japanese influences on the European cultural space are even more pronounced in the widest variety of areas... The world has become much wider and more interesting, it can offer more opportunities for earning one’s place to professionals and entrepreneurs, not only in the world of items and objects, but also in the world of technologies and management processes. 3D printing, for instance, ensures that an idea born in the head of a designer or an architect can be printed in any part of the world. In the past, innovations that were born in Italy, France or Germany took 30 - 40 years to come to Latvia. The transfer of such impulses and style lines in the 17th century between countries even required hundreds of years and then, by means of craftsmanship and the availability of technologies, they received their modified looks and directions in every geographical region. Nowadays, everything is possible, almost in a 1:1 ratio of time and space, as well as at the same level of technological capacity. This also means that the approach to our learning processes is also completely new at present. If earlier the education processes resembled the spread of bacilli by slowly travelling from the epicentre to the periphery, currently positive, as well as negative bacilli may overtake the world simultaneously, with minor differences depending on the core of mentalities. It must be considered that urban environments mix people heavily; in rural environments these reactions are slower and less intense, and the time of saturation is slightly longer. This is a very interesting, exciting time that is favourable to innovative people and companies that enables them, instead of being afraid of the changing world, to seek their place in the complexity of the world.
Therefore, is it, actually, impossible to talk of a special Baltic design or anything that is specifically limited in geographical terms? It can be mentioned in the mental plane, but not in terms of technologies or inspirations. If we talk about the Baltic design of the 19th century, the lines were very clear; they consisted of Western technology is another aspect, which means, for instance, the regulatory enactments like building norms and instructions - countries that have been living with technologies for longer periods of time, have better adapted their normative environment to digitalisation and the use of modern technologies. The situation is similar in the sectors of architecture and design. I myself remember the 90s, when the use of wood in architecture was kind of a taboo topic due to the fire safety regulations of the USSR taken from the socialist period, which prioritised the protection of socialistic property over the protection of people. This automatically led to considerations that protecting concrete from fire is much easier than wood. However, as our current cultural space is changing and Latvia gravitates towards the European Union, the
European, as well as Russian influences. Even the slightest influences of the Asian region were not observed then, but nowadays we cannot say so, and the entire world may co-operate on the level of impulses. Those impulses no longer come from geographical locations alone, they come through the occupation of various people, for instance, through music or literature. We can draw inspiration for interior design from films. A vast variety of information carriers coming from the widest variety of locations is possible and a Japanese film may affect contemporary architects and designers more than something that has been created by our neighbours. Tradition and the rules of the game in the use of speed of evacuation of people gains importance and technologies that ensure faster evacuation assume the leading role. Thus, wood and other materials that are less fire resistant are becoming more common in use, including the construction of multiple storey houses from wood. This mixture of traditions and the speed of introducing new traditions looks like pouring a blue and transparent fluid into a glass, that is separated with blotting paper. When we slowly remove the blotting paper from the glass, we can observe how the blue stained fluid slowly penetrates the side where the water was transparent - initially they are points of penetration, but then both sides merge and are equally affected by each other. The
same process is currently observed in intercultural co-operation. When we worked in Scandinavia, as long as 15 years ago, we thought that 3k (the idea of offering concrete, metal and glass constructions to order as a single three-construction-element package, which was born at UPB company - ed.), and furthermore, the offer of such a package as a set of construction, servicing and design services, was an impossible concept. Then there was no tradition of buying a full set from a subcontractor. It is a daily practice now and thus the Scandinavian part of construction and technology has been made considerably simpler and safer. Meanwhile we have been enriched by the Scandinavian way of thinking, for instance, in various composite constructions like metal and concrete or with German experience by overtaking compact combined heat and power plants, which we are currently producing in Latvia. These combined heat and power plants also have a specifically adapted design with sound and fire insulation in the red colour of the Latvian flag, which are marketed under the UPB brand. Of course, compatibility of technologies within these plants is very important - they must be made according to the best principles of design. This is like, when you open the bonnet of the best Audi or Mercedes cars, you enjoy observing how compact and thoughtful the placement of technologies is - no questions may arise there - either from the point of view of servicing, or marketing and design. You mentioned digitalisation and the adaptation of different countries to these processes. In Western Europe, the Baltic states are frequently considered to be pioneers in this area. What is your opinion? Undoubtedly, the Baltic States are a unified space in terms of a geographical and cultural area, but industrial influences and traditions here differ. This must be taken into consideration. If we review the history of Lithuania, we cannot ignore huge Polish influences and even nowadays we can see that the Polish market is very important for Lithuania. At the same time, we cannot ignore the closeness of Finland and Estonia in the north, even at the times when these countries were separated by
the iron curtain. Of course, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the influence of Finland on the investment, as well as business and even design environment of Estonia was very impressive. Meanwhile Latvia must be discussed in different terms, because we do not directly (in terms of distances as well) border on a large economy in Western Europe or Scandinavia or a large cultural space. Meanwhile, we are characterised by an approach of integration of multicultural influences and historical experience. If we look at what is around us, we see the land border with Russia, Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania and Sweden nearby - over the sea. Among all Baltic states, Latvia also has the strongest memories of the Baltic German tradition as well. All these influences have had a slightly more complex and integrated effect on us than on Estonia and Lithuania. Furthermore, all these influences leave their effect on contemporary Industrialisation 4.0 in the Baltic states, as well as the impulses that drive the Baltic states towards this new technological age. Lithuania is close to this from the point of view of industry preserved during the transition period; I am familiar with Lithuanian businessmen, for instance, from the “ Vilma” factory of tape recorders, where these production traditions, in contrast with Latvia, were not interrupted during the transitional years. These preserved traditions are carrying Lithuania further in the direction of digitalisation of the industrial environment. Estonia, thanks to its e-government and advertising of digital country obtained a different direction by attempting to raise its industrial potential via the IT sector. In Latvia both of these influences have mixed. We work with our industrial tradition that we have inherited from the 19th century, since there are industries that have retained their positions here and continued to develop, as well as with regard to new technologies.
Can you mention an example, where this combination is manifested? For instance, the UPB industrial concern once developed as a new industry from scratch. Thus, we can enter Industry 4.0 with both these lines - with the most modern level of technology, for instance, in MB group, with mobile reinforced concrete factories, where the production is organised in accordance with the production line principle, like in car production, as well as from the point of view of IT, by developing software Sweden and we were welcome there, because we could keep up with the competition in Germany and adapt these technologies, which resulted in being highly valued in other countries that wanted to acquire this knowledge, while we could continue developing our software, which could not be supplied by the large system developers that lack sufficient integration in the production environment. Thus, now we can speak of another aspect of design - IT design at the level of software. So, influences are different, but eventually they are all mixed together. In terms of influences, there is no use thinking in the categories of borders; it is better to think in the categories of industries that have come to
for your industries. UPB also created software, based on our industrial experience, and now those of our competitors based in the widest geographical regions, including Germany and Spain, as well as other countries, find it useful. 15 years ago, when we started concentrating on exporting, our objective was to break out into the world, to gain international know-how in the area of design, machinery production and building construction, to return to Latvia with this knowledge and to try implementing it in the Latvian environment, and then to use this implanted know-how to again go abroad to provide services at a higher level. For instance, German influences of facade building enabled us to build these facades in the United Kingdom, Iceland and avant-garde or remained in arrieregarde. This is the new contemporary thought of design, which conforms to the philosophy of “form follows consciousness” mentioned by me earlier. If you are in the front lines in your industry, the best possible influences of the world are available to you. If you are in the arriere-garde of your industry, irrespective of geography, you are forced to struggle with the consequences that arise from this position of an outsider.
Foreigners frequently ask for a clear definition - what is it that you Latvians can offer? Lithuanians position themselves as specialising in industry and car making, Estonians are an e-country, but the story of Latvia is frequently not completely clear .
